Chapter 29

"Should I be surprised?" William asked wryly as they finally caught up to Paul, finding his horse abandoned outside a building, barely tied up.

He was trying to find lodgings at a decrepit inn, but they were denying him without payment upfront, which of course he could not afford.

"Oh my!" Violet clapped her hands to her mouth in shock. It seemed that she was shocked by the sight of her brother. Clearly, she had never seen him this desperate before. "I cannot believe this."

"I am going to confront him now. We cannot let him escape again."

Violet"s lips thinned in to a determined line as she nodded in agreement.

William stepped forth first, with Violet not far behind him. She seemed to be half hiding behind him, like she had no idea what was going to happen next.

If only William could reassure her that everything would be fine. But he had no idea if that was the case.

"Paul, you must not keep running. As you can see, I will always find you."

Paul sighed heavily before he turned to look at the couple. Upon spotting Violet behind William, Paul"s eyes flickered with emotion.

"I will not ask you again," the gentleman behind the motel desk declared as he rose to his feet. "You cannot conduct your business here. I need you to leave."

William did not think that was the best idea. If they were outside, then it gave Paul a much better chance to run. But the man behind the desk looked like Paul had really put him through it, so William nodded in agreement.

He grabbed Paul to make sure that he would not run, and he dragged him out to the alley close by where they could finally talk.

"So, now that Violet is here," William demanded. "I think it is finally time that you are honest with us. Your sister deserves that, do you not think? If I were you, I would want her to know it all."

Guilt flowed across Paul"s face, but it was not enough to make William back down. Violet needed to hear the truth; it was only fair.

"I… I just thought that if you were in danger, Violet, then perhaps your husband would pay my debts for me."

Violet"s scoff of derision matched how William was feeling entirely.

"What is that supposed to mean?" she snapped back, stepping out from behind William as a brand new strength surged through her. "You are the one who arranged for me to be kidnapped? Do you know how terrifying that was? What could have happened to me?"

"William would have saved you," Paul insisted. "I knew that. I mean, the man obviously has a weakness for my chit of a sister."

William could not stand the way that Paul talked about his wife, even in the direst of situations. He could not seem to stop himself from being nasty to Violet, even though he was the one who had created all the mess.

Without even thinking about what he was about to do, William swung his fist back and slammed it in to the left side of Paul"s face. Again.

"You need to stop that!" Paul yelled, now enraged. "You will never be able to understand the situation that I found myself in, Your Grace."

The sarcasm dripped off his tongue. It was hard for William not to punch him again.

"You were given everything. You are a blessed man, William. Not like me. All I inherited after my father died was a ton of debt and a sister to care for. I have never had anything but lousy luck."

His yelling grew louder with each and every self-pitying word.

It was not long until people started to surround them, but William did not care. The only person that Paul was making a fool out of was himself.

But it did not take long for the words to fall apart on Paul"s mouth and for all the color to drain out of his cheeks.

"Oh no," he whispered as discomfort flooded his body. "No, not Sharks."

Sharks?

William recognized that name. It was one of the workers from the gambling hall. A younger gentleman with a dreadful reputation for being absolutely ruthless because he felt like he had nothing to lose.

He turned to face the gang members, to see the intensity of the glint in Sharks" eyes. That man was ready for a fight, that was for sure.

"So, this is where you are, Paul."

Sharks stepped forwards, putting himself ahead of the other gang members.

"And it seems like you have some friends with you. Some very fine looking friends."

Sharks" eyes dragged up and down Violet"s body as if he were about to devour her whole.

As if William needed another reason to get angry.

"And your lovely sister, Paul. You know, me and the gang had a lot of fun with your sister. Especially Peaky."

He other guys laughed, as if this was not the most disgusting thing a man had ever said. William screwed up his face in horror.

But he had to snap out of that very quickly because Sharks thought he was being smart by charging at him rapidly.

William nonchalantly shoved the idiot in to a rack of wood.

A man like that was no match for him.

"You need to stop this now," he barked commandingly, drawing all the eyes of the crowd towards him. "Paul"s debt will be paid, you can go back and make sure your boss knows as much." A thick silence clung to the gang. "Well, that is what he wants, is it not? To have his money? You could bring him Paul"s head, but what does that solve? He is still out of pocket. It would be better for you to take the money, am I right?"

"You are lying," one of them snapped back.

"I never lie," William insisted. "I am not that sort of person; you should know that. I will make sure the debt is paid in the early hours of the morning."

The men looked to Sharks who was now on his feet, barely. It was something of a joke that he was the leader of this little pack of people, but whatever. William just wanted this over and done with.

"You better get the money to us tomorrow."

William stifled a laugh. It was hard to find a man intimidating when he had just been a heap on the floor.

"I am not joking. If that money is not in our boss"s hands first thing, then you will all have hell to pay. This will no longer be a problem just for Paul, but for all of you. I hope you understand that."

The only person to appear remotely pleased by that sentiment was of course Paul himself. This burden that he had been carrying around with him had now become an issue for everyone.

As if it was not already.

"Fine," William shot back "I have already given you my word that you will have the money by morning, and that is a promise I will stick to." He grabbed Paul around the scruff of the neck, trying to remind him just who was in charge here. "But you must leave Paul alone."

Sharks gave a snort of derision, before he nodded in agreement. "If our boss is paid, then I have absolutely no reason to touch him. We are not unreasonable."

The gang members laughed as if this was the funniest joke ever, which could have quite easily gotten riled up by this, but he knew that was exactly what Sharks wanted, so he would not give him the satisfaction.

Instead, he turned away, still clinging on to Paul because there was no chance in hell that he was going to let the man escape again.

"You do not need to pull me," Paul grumbled, sounding like a little child. "I am quite capable of walking by myself."

"I think you have proven yourself wholly incapable of everything."

"What are we doing now?" Violet hissed as she caught up with the pair. "Are we just leaving now? Is that the end of it?"

"I do not think there are any more insults and threats to throw our way," William declared with a playful smile. "So yes, we are done. Now it is time for us to go back home, so we can figure this out between us all."

"Figure what out?" Paul snapped. "Did you not just promise to pay off the debts in the morning? Is that not the plan? I thought that you had finally decided to do the right thing."

And there Paul was again, proving that without serious consequences, he was never going to learn his lesson. He would always simply assume that everyone was there to bail him out.

That was not going to happen, but William decided not to argue that right now. He wished for a peaceful ride home after all, and there was only one way to guarantee that.

To say nothing.